A Chinese team of virologists has discovered a new bat coronavirus that can infect human cells, raising concerns about potential animal-to-human transmission. The virus, a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus, uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, led by Shi Zhengli, a prominent virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was published in the journal Cell. The discovery comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the Wuhan lab, which was previously accused of being the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the virus's origin and insists that the Wuhan lab never engaged in gain-of-function studies on coronaviruses.
China has firmly denied that its Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted gain-of-function studies on coronavirus, rejecting allegations that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded such research at the lab. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, emphasized that the lab has never engaged in gain-of-function research, designed, made, or leaked COVID-19. China has also reiterated its stance on the origins-tracing of COVID-19, stating that the pandemic was "extremely unlikely" to have originated from a lab leak, as concluded by the WHO-China joint mission.
China on Wednesday accused the United States for originating COVID-19, claiming America was trying to 'shift the blame' after US President Donald Trump said that the disease was leaked from a Wuhan lab, New York Post reported.
The research revealed that coronaviruses and their hosts are engaged in an evolutionary arms race that promotes genetic variety in the virus.
In what appears to be an astonishing revelation, a US-based scientist who worked at a controversial research lab in China's Wuhan, has said that Covid-19 was a "man-made virus" that leaked from the facility.
Speaking at a press conference, Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the WHO mission in Wuhan, stated four hypotheses on how the virus spread but reiterated that "laboratory incident hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the human population".
US intelligence agencies said they will 'rigorously' examine the emerging information to determine if the COVID-19 outbreak began through contact with infected animals or due to an accident at a laboratory in China.
According to various global media reports, China is creating Covid-like pathogens in Pakistan that have the potential of causing virus contamination on a scale far higher than Covid.
World leaders gathered at the G7 Summit in Cornwall discussed the possibility that a laboratory leak in central China's Wuhan city may have a connection with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief saying all hypotheses behind the origins of the deadly disease remain in play.
'FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China,' tweeted the FBI.
The results of the study, being published on the website of top academic journal Nature on May 20, implied the Huanan Seafood Market in Hubei's capital Wuhan may not be the birthplace of COVID-19, although the virus outbreak emerged in Wuhan had a strong link to contacts with the market.
Three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019, weeks before Beijing disclosed the COVID-19 pandemic, a United States media report said, citing a previously undisclosed American intelligence document that could add weight to growing calls for a full scale probe of whether the coronavirus may have escaped from China's top bio lab.
"We raced against time and were the first country to report cases to the world," Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in interviews to the official media over the weekend.
Accusing United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of fabricating lies over the involvement of the virology lab in Wuhan, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to deflect criticism over its role by highlighting its French connection.
Last year Dr Fauci had largely dismissed the theory that the deadly COVID-19 virus, due to which over 165 million people have been infected worldwide and over 3.5 million peope died so far, was genetically engineered and had leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.
"The intelligence community and the rest of the government are still looking at this. There's not been a definitive conclusion, so it's difficult for me to say, nor should I feel like I should have to defend press reporting about a possible preliminary indication here," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters at a daily White House news conference.
The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have arrived at disparate judgments about the pandemic's origin.
Shi explained that she and a group of researchers obtained samples of coronavirus on December 30 last year and performed high-throughput sequencing of the samples and the isolation of pathogens.
'It came out of China and it could have been stopped and I wish they had stopped it and so does the whole world wish they had stopped it'
China will carry out major scientific research to enhance its biosecurity science and technological capacity against future infectious diseases, state-run Global Times quoted Xiang as saying.
'Never believed that we humans have the capability at this time to create such a virus'
Confirming the visit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing on Monday that China supported scientists around the world to conduct a global study on the origins and transmission routes of the virus.
The United States intelligence community has failed to reach any firm conclusion on the exact origin of COVID-19 and is split on whether it leaked from a lab in China or emerged in nature, even though it does not believe the virus was developed as a biological weapon, according to results of a detailed review ordered by President Joe Biden.
British intelligence agencies now believe it is 'feasible' that the COVID-19 pandemic began with a coronavirus leak from a Chinese bio laboratory, a media report said here on Sunday, prompting Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi to demand that the World Health Organisation (WHO) must fully investigate the origins of the deadly virus.
China said the study was "ridiculous" and based on "superficial" information.
The wet market was where a variety of live animals were traded until it was shut down following fears that the coronavirus had jumped to humans either from bats or pangolins.
Trump indicated that his administration is looking at a bigger compensation from Beijing than the $140 billion being sought by Germany over the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Tedros said the team has concluded that leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology as alleged by former US president Donald Trump is the "least likely hypothesis" but it requires further probe.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
The paper also includes musing that SARS -- which hit China in 2003 -- could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists".
China's National Health Commission on Thursday said the country reported only four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number to 82,862, while no death due to the disease was registered. The virus has claimed 4,633 lives in the country.
Though the lockdown has been lifted, local officials continue to ask people to stay indoors.
Not to say that India couldn't have handled the situation better, but on average, it didn't do anywhere near as badly as the naysayers make it out argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
Why did the Chinese military take over the lab in Wuhan in end January? Did something go wrong? Claude Arpi glances at the mystery surrounding the origin of the coronavirus.
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